Haha! All my Irish friends who are attending have been preparing for the last couple months. Their rule - the kids stay at home. I may even go just to see these upscale families take in the awesome, amazing spectacle that is Irish fun.

Couldn't they sort the town into zones for party type? I've long felt that they could do that with Ocean City Maryland, where civil families routinely come into conflict with what we will call a more party-minded demographic. Noise ordinances and whatnot could be different in different parts of town, and visitors could choose their hotel/condo accordingly.

st patrick's day in new orleans is pretty family friendly and booze fueled. i guess having a parade and floats and allowing people to drink outside means family fun.

/ actually, that is the difference. most of america forbids people from drinking in public. that means you have to be in a bar. bars are not places for kids. so, you want family fun, let people drink in the streets.

Wade_Wilson:Does anyone do family stuff for Saint Patrick's Day? Maybe if you are actually Irish you would, but it's not like it's a holiday where you make trips to see grandma or get the day off school.

If it weren't for the drinking and partying, it'd be about as notable of a holiday as Arbor Day, is what I'm saying.

Depends on the town. In Boston, St. Patrick's is damn near holy. Dallas, mebbee not so much...

We have the same problem here in St. Louis with Mardi Gras and St. Patty's Day. As a former Soulard neighborhood resident I can confirm that almost everyone arrested at those were under 25 and from outside the 270/255 loop.

fireclown:Couldn't they sort the town into zones for party type? I've long felt that they could do that with Ocean City Maryland, where civil families routinely come into conflict with what we will call a more party-minded demographic. Noise ordinances and whatnot could be different in different parts of town, and visitors could choose their hotel/condo accordingly.

Ive thought about that too. Leave the south for the more loud stuff since most of its there and leave the family crap up north.

Im real tired of people trying to make events mroe "family" friendly. A lot of people go to these things to get away from their families. When we go tailgating for punkin chunkin in Delaware there is one rule No Kids! And its worked for years and we love it.

Wade_Wilson:Does anyone do family stuff for Saint Patrick's Day? Maybe if you are actually Irish you would, but it's not like it's a holiday where you make trips to see grandma or get the day off school.

If it weren't for the drinking and partying, it'd be about as notable of a holiday as Arbor Day, is what I'm saying.

The SO did regular parade marching then Irish music/dance/food/etc while growing up. We might try going to the Irish Gaelic club this year but then again, madhouse.

pute kisses like a man:st patrick's day in new orleans is pretty family friendly and booze fueled. i guess having a parade and floats and allowing people to drink outside means family fun.

/ actually, that is the difference. most of america forbids people from drinking in public. that means you have to be in a bar. bars are not places for kids. so, you want family fun, let people drink in the streets.

I'll never forget the year I played a tin whistle for 'whiskey in the jar' and led an impromptu band of about 40 amateur drunk musicians down Magazine during St. Pat's. It devolved to a reel, but, eh, what the hell.

As my Irish great grandmother would always say after finishing her first glass of wine/beer/whatever "a bird can't fly on one wing". Course what she thought was a bird seemed to have half a dozen wings........

Wade_Wilson:Does anyone do family stuff for Saint Patrick's Day? Maybe if you are actually Irish you would, but it's not like it's a holiday where you make trips to see grandma or get the day off school.

Well, I know when I lived in Kansas City everyone would bring their families out downtown to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade. Sure, there would be a float or two, maybe some bagpipers, but mostly it was just an endless display of this:

Black youth marching drum corps with little 8 year old girls grinding on the pavement. If that isn't in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day I don't know what is.

groppet:Im real tired of people trying to make events mroe "family" friendly. A lot of people go to these things to get away from their families. When we go tailgating for punkin chunkin in Delaware there is one rule No Kids! And its worked for years and we love it.

theurge14:Wade_Wilson: Does anyone do family stuff for Saint Patrick's Day? Maybe if you are actually Irish you would, but it's not like it's a holiday where you make trips to see grandma or get the day off school.

Well, I know when I lived in Kansas City everyone would bring their families out downtown to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade. Sure, there would be a float or two, maybe some bagpipers, but mostly it was just an endless display of this:

[i.imgur.com image 700x421]

Black youth marching drum corps with little 8 year old girls grinding on the pavement. If that isn't in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day I don't know what is.

theurge14:Wade_Wilson: Does anyone do family stuff for Saint Patrick's Day? Maybe if you are actually Irish you would, but it's not like it's a holiday where you make trips to see grandma or get the day off school.

Well, I know when I lived in Kansas City everyone would bring their families out downtown to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade. Sure, there would be a float or two, maybe some bagpipers, but mostly it was just an endless display of this:

[i.imgur.com image 700x421]

Black youth marching drum corps with little 8 year old girls grinding on the pavement. If that isn't in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day I don't know what is.

drxym:The stupid part is if you did go to a genuine Irish St Patrick's Day parade in any Irish town or city, it's all about the kids. The drinking starts later.

i kind of thought this was the case. I'm not irish, but our st patrick's day parade goes through our 'irish channel', an historically irish part of town. it is definitely for children. there are marching bands, floats, people handing out cabbages, a number of social groups marching, and children running around having a great time.

of course, people are also drinking, but it's day time drinking. that's practically sober by new orleans' standards.

/ and then night time comes, the parades end, and there's more jameson in everyone's bellies.

pute kisses like a man:i kind of thought this was the case. I'm not irish, but our st patrick's day parade goes through our 'irish channel', an historically irish part of town. it is definitely for children. there are marching bands, floats, people handing out cabbages, a number of social groups marching, and children running around having a great time.

of course, people are also drinking, but it's day time drinking. that's practically sober by new orleans' standards.

The New Orleans Irish Channel parade is badass. You people are crazy. Not just drinking crazy, but cabbage-throwing crazy. Who throws cabbages at a crowd? I'll tell ya who: Slightly drunk New Orleanians. That might not be the biggest, or booziest parade in the crescent city, but it's one of the most fun.

fireclown:pute kisses like a man: i kind of thought this was the case. I'm not irish, but our st patrick's day parade goes through our 'irish channel', an historically irish part of town. it is definitely for children. there are marching bands, floats, people handing out cabbages, a number of social groups marching, and children running around having a great time.

of course, people are also drinking, but it's day time drinking. that's practically sober by new orleans' standards.

The New Orleans Irish Channel parade is badass. You people are crazy. Not just drinking crazy, but cabbage-throwing crazy. Who throws cabbages at a crowd? I'll tell ya who: Slightly drunk New Orleanians. That might not be the biggest, or booziest parade in the crescent city, but it's one of the most fun.

it's kind of a special time. there's a calm that takes over the city after carnivale ends. people go on lent, partying slows down, people have to work to make up for all the lost days over mardi gras. so, there's this well earned lull in partying.

then st patrick's day comes along, and since it's a saint's day, it's a dispensation from fasting, so you can bust out the dusty booze bottles and put pork in your cabbage.

also, the parade doesn't go to the french quarter, so you skip a certain tourist demographic that tends to be looking for something different.